In general, a cyclone collector is a device for collecting dust particle (hereinafter, referred to as “dust”) contained in air using a cyclone principle, and normally applied to a vacuum cleaner.
Recently, a multi cyclone collector having a plurality of cyclone collectors connected thereto is used for increasing collecting efficiency. An example of the multi cyclone collector is in a Japanese laid open utility model NO. S52-14775.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional multi cyclone collector will be described. The multi cyclone collector includes a cyclone (hereinafter, referred to as “a first cyclone collector 1”) for collecting dust being relatively large in size by sucking up contaminated air from outside, and a cyclone (hereinafter, referred to as “a second cyclone collector 3”) connected with the first cyclone collector 1 to collect dust being relatively small in size. The plurality of second cyclone collectors 3 in the multi cyclone collector is a collection of a plurality of small cyclones, which will be described in more detail as follows.
First, the first cyclone collector 1 includes a first inlet 11, a first body 12, and a first outlet 14. In this instance, the first inlet 11 is connected with a circumferential surface of the first body 12 such that outside air is flowed there into in a tangential direction, and the first outlet 14 is provided at about a central portion in the first body 12 along a perpendicular direction. The first outlet 14 provided at about the central portion in the first body 12 plays a role of discharging air into the second cyclone collector 3, the air from which dust are filtered. The first outlet 14 is formed in a cylindrical shape, a bottom 14b is opened, and a circumference of a top 14a is closed. In some cases, a filter 16 is provided at an opening of the bottom 14b as shown in FIG. 2 which is appended.
Meanwhile, the second cyclone collector 3 is a plurality of small cyclones provided in a circular arrangement along a circumference of the first body 14 included in the first cyclone collector 1. The second cyclone collector 3 includes a second body 32, a second inlet 31, and a second outlet 34.
The second body 32 is formed in a conic shape which is narrowed down toward a bottom thereof, and a collecting container 4 provided at a lower part of the second cyclone collector 3 for collecting dust separated from the air flowing in the second body 32.
In this case, the collecting container 4 is a pipe formed in a circular shape when seen from a plain view, and communicated with each of the second cyclone collector 3 so as to be used with the second cyclone collector 3.
A buffering chamber 56 is formed between the first cyclone collector 1 and the second cyclone collector 3 such that air from the first cyclone collector 1 is passed through the buffering chamber 56 and flowed into the second cyclone collector 3.
A discharging chamber 52 communicated with the second outlet 14 is provided at an upper part of the second cyclone collector 3, and air is passed through the discharging chamber 52 and discharged through a discharging pipe 54. A drawing reference number 5 which is unexplained indicates a case for accommodating the first cyclone collector 1 and the second cyclone collector 3.
Operation of the conventional multi cyclone collector will be described in the following. When the multi cyclone collector is operated and, for example, a suction fan (not shown) of a vacuum cleaner is driven, contaminated outside air is flowed into a first cyclone collector 1 through a first inlet 11 of the first cyclone dust collector 1. In this instance, the contaminated air flowed in is flowed in along a tangential direction to the first cyclone collector, and circulated along an inner wall of a first body 12 of the first cyclone collector 1. In this process, air and dust are separated from each other by a centrifugal force. In this instance, relatively large and heavy dust are collected at a lower part of the first cyclone collector 1, and minute dust which are not separated yet are circulated in the first cyclone collector 1 and joined in the flow of discharged air so as to be discharged through the first outlet 14.
Meanwhile, air including minute dust and discharged from the first cyclone collector 1 is flowed respectively into each of the second body 32 through the second inlet 31, the second body 32 including the second cyclone collectors 3.
Accordingly, the minute dust are separated once again in the second cyclone collectors 3, and purified air is sequentially passed through a second outlet 34, a discharging chamber 52, and a discharging pipe 54 and then discharged to an outside thereof.
In this instance, minute dust separated from air while passing through the inside of the second body 32 of the second cyclone collector 3 are fallen to a lower part of the second body 32 and then collected in the collecting container 4 provided at a lower part of the second cyclone collector 3.
A total size of the conventional multi cyclone collector mentioned above is however limited because a space for installing the multi cyclone collector is limited in a vacuum cleaner. Therefore, the number of the second cyclone collector 3 also needs to be limited.
Particularly, unless a total size of the multi cyclone collector is increased in a width direction, it is unable to increase the number of the second cyclone collector 3 because the second cyclone collector 3 is disposed in a circular shape along an outer circumference of the first cyclone collector 1.
Accordingly, there is a problem that minute dust are not collected in the second cyclone collector 2 to the highest degree, and a part of minute dust is discharged through the discharging pipe 54 to a space having a suction fan (not shown) of the vacuum cleaner, the minute dust not separated at the first cyclone collector 1.
The conventional multi cyclone collector is formed in circular shape if seen in a plain view. Inner space of a vacuum cleaner having a conventional multi cyclone collector is formed in a many sided shape having predetermined edges, and a case 5 is also formed in a many sided shape to be provided in the space. In this regard, the edge portion in the case 5 exists only as an empty space, thereby raising a problem of space waste.